by Linda Straker
- Legislation to make NaDMA a statutory body went into effect on 1 June 2023
- NaDMA not given a budget in 2024 budget
- Operationalising NaDMA into statutory body will hopefully commence in 2025
Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell has confirmed that the National Disaster Management Agency (NaDMA) continues to operate as a department under his ministerial portfolio although the new legislation to make the agency a statutory body went into effect on 1 June 2023.
“Yes, the legislation was enacted. NaDMA was not given a budget in the 2024 budget because although the legislation was enacted, the operationalising of NaDMA into a statutory body has not, in fact, commenced. We are hoping to do so in the 2025 budget cycle,” the Prime Minister said during a news conference on 19 November.
“It is still operating as a department of the Ministry of National Disaster Management in conjunction with the wider advisory council which is a representative body of almost every sector,” he said, explaining that the established format before the passage of the new legislation is the structure by which the agency continues to operate.
The new legislation provides for the agency to have a National Emergency Advisory Council (NEAC) to be the body in which ministries and departments of Government, statutory bodies, District Disaster Management Committees, communities, private sector entities, non-governmental organisations, relief agencies, and faith-based organisations consult with each other and coordinate their actions on matters relating to disaster management and disaster risk management, including financial responses.
The agency’s work will be administered by a board whose members shall advance a comprehensive disaster management system by facilitating and coordinating the development and implementation of integrated disaster management systems in Grenada.
The agency’s affairs shall be managed by a director appointed by the board which shall comprise a chairperson, a deputy chairperson, and not less than 7 other members, as the Prime Minister from time to time determines.
According to the legislation, board members other than the chairperson and deputy chairperson shall be those who appear to the Prime Minister to have a knowledge of or responsibility for the mitigation of, preparedness for, response to and recovery from emergencies and disasters.
The board members can also be holders ex-officio of offices, whether under the Crown or otherwise, whose functions include responsibility for aspects of the mitigation of, preparedness for, response to and recovery from emergencies and disasters in Grenada.
The minister under which the agency will fall may make regulations generally to implement the provisions of the legislation.
